Constellations
by Louise Foxhall
Summary: For Gamma's OC Bootcamp Challenge; "That's what her name means – Electra – it means shining." 50 prompts for 50 one-shots. Ch1: Stars Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**Stars **

They were named for stars. All of them, named for the stars and the constellations, named for the heavens, named for the heroes and the gods of ages past.

Over the generations, it had become a tradition, showing to the rest of the world that the children of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black were set above the rest, they were born for higher things, they were born to rise and to govern and to _shine_.

That's what her name means – Electra – it means _shining_.

Her twin brother Sirius was named for the brightest star in the sky. He was the eldest, the heir to the fortune, the favoured child, the boy, but true to his name, he was bright, perhaps too bright for his own good. He became clever enough to realise that all he was being told was not the truth. He became clever enough to know that he could become so much more, he could become a true and loyal friend, a true and loyal fighter, a true and loyal heart and so he did. He rose, elevated from one state to another, but not the way they wanted. He rose, one morning, from his bed and, his trunk packed, he left. He rose and left without a backward glance.

Regulus, her youngest sibling, was different. _The little king_, he had been christened and like the kings of old, kings in the stars that had named others in her family, he had died in battle. Not seeped in glory like them though, not head to toe in armour, not leaving his loved ones with courageous last words. He died a traitor to one side and unknown to the other, sinking slowly, green water overhead, filling his vision, filling his lungs…

And thus she lost the first brother because stars, they can fall, no matter how bright they shine - _Sirius _– because she lost him too.

Three times.

She lost him when he ran away from home and she refused to accompany him. They had fought and not spoken for months, the assumption that it was her fault lingering between them, the fact she was "one of them" now.

She lost him again when he was sent to Azkaban. He wasn't guilty, any fool could see that, he adored James like a brother, more like kin than he and she or he and Regulus had ever been, but still she lost him and he lost his flair, the bright spark that he had lived his whole live exuding. It broke her heart to see him without it, thirteen years later when they met again but he was still there – still alive – with his heart beating in his chest. He wasn't lost yet.

The last time she lost him it was for good. No way to make up their differences, no bars that could be overcome, no way to get back from where he had gone for he had gone, gone on, people say. Gone on, to better places, to James and to Lily and to Regulus. He had gone on to meet his brothers while she was left with none because stars, they fall, into temptation and into traps, they fall under heavy expectations and through veils. They, who once shone so bright, fall into the dark.

But she – Electra – cannot fade so, can she? Not when she was born to shine, when even her name says so.

She cannot just fade to black, until there is nothing left of her, can she? Because Black is her name too, isn't it?

But all stars fall. Don't they? Even if it is just in the transition between the night and the day.

All stars fall, remember that, sweetheart:

All stars rise and all stars fall.


	2. Chapter 2

****A/N: prompt number 2 comes in the form of a free verse and has the pairing Electra Black (OC)/Rabastan Lestrange. Please R&R.

* * *

**when the clock strikes**

when the clock **s-t-r-i-k-e-s  
**T/W/E/L/V/E  
you better _go_  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
get **out  
**-run-  
_as __fast__ as you can  
_D  
O  
W  
N  
the stairs  
the stairs that t-w-i-s-t/and/t-u-r-n  
D  
O  
W  
N  
but **don't  
**_f_a_l_l  
_P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
**don't **_fall _  
in your (g)(l)(a)(s)(s) slippers  
and _l-o-n-g_ gown  
and **don't**_fall  
_in _**L.O.V.E  
**_…  
(one)  
_yes, _he's **handsome**  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
a _real-life _pRiNcE ChArMiNg  
(two)  
and he's coming  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
closer, _closer, __**closer**_  
(three)  
but you must look **closely **too  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
look at those _**s**_nake_**s **_eyes  
(four)  
don't just **b/l/i/n/k  
**P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
l/o/o/k – see the D_A_N_G_E_R  
(five)  
_such _a seductive v-o-i-c-e  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
d  
r  
i  
p  
p  
i  
n  
g  
_such _s.w.e.e.t **poison** in your ear  
(six)  
you don't have much [t][i][m][e]  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
it's _t.i.c.k.i.n.g_ away  
**(tick)**(seven)**(tock)  
**_"enchante" _he says  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
and you hear, don't you?  
(eight)  
you're f:l:a:t:t:e:r:e:d  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
heart  
_r  
a  
c  
i  
n  
g  
_cheeks **blazing  
**(nine)  
can't you be more s-u-b-t-l-e  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
more **gRoWn uP  
**?  
(ten)  
you're just a _child_  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
just a _baby  
_(eleven)_  
_go back to your (n)(u)(r)(s)(e)(r)(y)  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
go back to your _D.O.L.L.S_**  
**and leave this **M/A/N  
**(twelve)**  
**A  
L  
O  
N  
E **  
**because, you **have **to go  
you **must  
**you cannot d-e-l-a-y  
_D  
O  
W  
N  
_the stairs now  
_**D  
O  
W  
N  
**__d  
o  
w  
n  
_d  
o  
w  
n  
you've lost your slipper  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
the glass has _b-r-o-k-e-n/__**s-h-a-t-t-e-r-e-d**__/w-r-e-c-k-e-d  
_just like your **h*e*a*r*t **will  
-if you're not careful-  
keep  
_r  
u  
n  
n  
i  
n  
g  
/__**DOWN**__/down/  
_d  
o  
w  
n  
you're there  
P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
you're s-a-f-e  
you e_s_c_a_p_e_d

but he found your _shoe  
_P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
and even as you  
-run-  
he'll  
fOlLoW  
you  
-sHaDoWiNg  
your  
(footsteps)-  
hAuNtInG  
your  
d*r*e*a*m*s

he'll bring it back **tomorrow  
**P*R*I*N*C*E*S*S  
_at least you'll get to see him again_


End file.
